This invention relates to automotive seat assemblies having arm rests which are pivotally mounted to the seat back and seat backs which can be rotated forward, or dumped, to provide access to the area behind the seat. More particularly, this invention relates to a mechanism for moving the arm rest to a position along side the seat back in response to forward rotation of the seat back.
Seats which dump forward are used in a number of applications. These include front seats in two door automobiles, rear seats in station wagons, and pickup trucks and utility vehicles with storage space behind the seats. Certain vehicles, primarily pick-up trucks and other utility vehicles, are often equipped with large bucket seats frequently referred to as captain's chairs. Such a seat often includes an arm rest attached to the seat back on one or both sides of the seat back. These arm rests are hinged to the seat back to allow the arm rest to be rotated upward along the side of the seat back and out of the way for passengers entering the vehicle.
A problem with arm rests attached to the seat back is that if the arm rests are not moved upward, the arm rest may interfere with other interior vehicle components as the seat back is dumped. This can limit the amount of tilting of the seat back, thus reducing the access to the area behind the seat.
The outboard arm rest typically does not present a problem as the occupant will raise this arm rest to the upper position before leaving the vehicle to dump the seat back. The inboard arm rest, however, is frequently left in the horizontal position thus limiting the tilting of the seat back.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a seat assembly for a motor vehicle in which the arm rest is automatically rotated along the side of the seat back when the seat back is dumped forward.